A gentle Monday cryptic.
I had a couple of quibbles, which I've detailed in the blog. There were a few old chestnuts like orchestra but also some good surface readings. 9 has to be commended, not so much for the answer, but for the way the clue was entirely about cricket.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PRIMROSE | Writing about border in bloom (8) |
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Prose around rim |
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| 5 | HARROW | Agricultural tool with hard shaft (6) |
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H{ard} + arrow |
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| 9 | TESTICLE | Ball in cricket match – one caught by short leg (8) |
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Test + I c{aught} + le[g] |
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| 10 | FOREST | Warning by way into woods (6) |
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Fore (=golf warning) + st (short for street = way). |
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| 12 | TELEGRAPH | Great help unravelling wire (9) |
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(Great help)* |
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| 13 | FAITH | Note about sex and religion (5) |
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Fah around it |
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| 14 | POLE | European vote announced (4) |
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Hom of poll |
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| 16 | THEREIN | Article with strap in it (7) |
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The(=definite article) + rein (strap in horse riding) |
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| 19 | HAIRCUT | Hot look wounded Bob perhaps (7) |
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H{ot} + air + cut |
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| 21 | CASE | Causes a commotion about boxing lawsuit (4) |
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Hidden, rev in "causes a commotion" |
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| 24 | OPINE | Express an opinion about love and desire (5) |
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O + pine – perhaps not ideal that the definition and answer have the same root. |
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| 25 | BLUEBERRY | Confused about shrub initially lacking fruit (9) |
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Blurry around [h]ebe |
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| 27 | EVICTS | Turfs out unruly civets (6) |
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Civets* |
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| 28 | PINNACLE | Flying pelican holding tail of salmon in crest (8) |
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Pelican* around [salmo]n |
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| 29 | SIGNAL | Token is returned by gutted Glaswegian gangster (6) |
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Is< + g[laswegia]n + Al (Capone). I'm never sure about Al for Al Capone. If you were to say "Sherlock", then most people would immediately think of Sherlock Holmes. But if you just said "Al" – would anyone know you meant Al Capone? |
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| 30 | GREY AREA | Old neighbourhood is source of uncertainty (4,4) |
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Grey(=old)+ area |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | POTATO | Plant in vessel with a short lid (6) |
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Pot + a + to[p] |
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| 2 | INSULT | Abuse popular American returning to Lithuania (6) |
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In + US< + Lt (car and internet abbrev for Lituania) |
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| 3 | RUING | Regretting exercising authority without latitude (5) |
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Ru[l]ing (minus l{atitude}) |
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| 4 | SALVAGE | Recover silver in cream (7) |
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Ag in salve |
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| 6 | ALOOFNESS | A simpleton raised head in distance (9) |
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A + fool< + ness |
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| 7 | REEDITED | Grass diet unexpectedly revised again (2-6) |
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Reed + diet* |
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| 8 | WATCHING | Seeing wife infectious but not with cold (8) |
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W{ife} + [c]atching |
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| 11 | CHAT | Bird jaw (4) |
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DD |
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| 15 | ORCHESTRA | Gold trunk artist gives musicians (9) |
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Or + chest + RA |
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| 17 | SHOOTERS | Marksmen nose inside ship (8) |
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Hooter in SS |
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| 18 | DIVINING | Swooping around Northern Ireland looking for water (8) |
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Diving around NI |
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| 20 | TUBA | Lean on inverted instrument (4) |
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Abut< |
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| 21 | COURIER | Palace attendant having no time for messenger (7) |
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Cour[t]ier |
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| 22 | GROCER | Tradesperson is more obscene we hear (6) |
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Hom of grosser |
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| 23 | HYAENA | Carnivore hunting yak and elk notices antelope first of all (6) |
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Initial letters of hunting yak and elk notices antelope |
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| 26 | BENNY | Man to live with Nancy off and on (5) |
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Be + odd letters of Nancy |
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I see hills… (and one Hill)
Good spot, Andrew.
I do love clues like 9a. Such a natural sentence about cricket with an answer that’s totally unrelated (assuming suitable protection is worn).
I have a memory like an elephant – it’s one large 30a.
I think AL for “gangster” is so common, I have come to accept it. Recently, we had AL for “crooner” which I didn’t like.
Thanks to Vigo and Neal.
Thanks for the blog, Neal, especially for the parsing of BLUEBERRY, which I just couldn’t see.
I would never have seen the theme [although that was the BENNY I thought of] so thanks for that, Andrew.
I agree with Hovis about Al: maybe if you’d never done a crossword you wouldn’t think of Capone [nor Che – red / revolutionary] but it’s a cliché for those who do.
When I started doing crosswords, ‘fore’ = warning cropped up very regularly – we don’t see it so often now. I don’t remember seeing that cluing for ORCHESTRA before – I rather liked it.
Others I liked were TELEGRAPH, THEREIN, CASE, WATCHING and BENNY.
Many thanks to Vigo for an enjoyable puzzle.
This was light and a lot of fun. I see Neal has beaten me to the comment I was going to make about 24a.
Many thanks to Vigo and to Neal.
A pleasant start to the week and a fairly quick solve. THEREIN was our LOI. A minor quibble about 20dn as to whether the answer was ‘abut’ or TUBA, but crossing letters settled the argument. 14ac, though was unambiguous.
Favourites were TESTICLE (for its cricketing surface), ORCHESTRA (not an anagram of ‘carthorse’ for a change) and BLUEBERRY (after we checked that hebe is a shrub).
Thanks, Vigo and NealH
anybody check to see if there is a 9 Hill where some poor general copped one amidships while sitting on his horse surveying the battlefield? Bit like a land-based Jenkin’s Ear?
Andrew @1. There are 2 Hills. Benny and the divine Faith ( no pun intended).
Thanks to setter for an excellent Monday workout, and of course NealH for parsing SIGNAL for me.
Lovely puzzle as was today’s Guardian. Are Vigo and Carpathian the same setter? Thanks to all anyway
Thanks to Neal for the blog, and to Vigo for the puzzle, in which TESTICLE was worth the entry fee alone. I agree with others that AL is well-entrenched crosswordspeak for ‘gangster’, although outside our little world it would no doubt elicit a ‘who?’
To the best of my knowledge, Vigo and Carpathian are indeed the same individual. And an always entertaining setter under either handle.
Was never going to parse 24a
Bit of a newbie here – can someone explain the ness in 6D?
25a I only got from the fruit. Hebe is a new one to me – although lockdown has made me more interested in gardening I think I have far to go!
Ness is one of those words you only see in crosswordland. Chambers defines is as a headland. I suppose it survives in place names such as Sheerness, Dungeness. But I don’t think you here people saying “I went for a walk on the ness.” much.
Late to comment today although I did solve the puzzle quite early on and found it up a notch in difficulty for this setter. It won’t surprise anyone here that I was sorry to see 9a despite it being carefully couched as a cricket clue but I enjoyed the rest of the solve although agree with the comments from others about 24a.
Thanks to Vigo and also to Neal for the review.
gsolphotog @8 – yes, Vigo and Carpathian are one and the same, a lovely lady.
Likewise very late, but just for the record, the hills are London localities Primrose, Harrow (on the), Forest, Pole and Shooters. There are several Telegraph and Signal hills around the world. There’s a Chat Hill in Northumberland, a Potato Hill in New York State, the Orchestra on the Hill (made up of members of various Cambridge colleges) and a Hyaena Hill Lodge in the Lake Mburo National park in Uganda. Plus Benny Hill (comedian) and Faith Hill (singer). Any others? Not all of these may have been intended by the setter. Thanks Vigo and Neal.
I am also very late. Thank you to NealH for the blog and to Tatrasman for alerting me to Chat Hill, Potato Hill, Orchestra on the Hill and Hyaena Hill Lodge! Faith and Benny were intentional hills and you are right in noticing my rather London centric hill choice (I do live in London but one of the flat parts). Thank you also to everyone who took the time to comment and apologies to Jane for 9a – I imagined your disapproval as I included it but couldn’t resist the surface reading…
V x